This invention relates to an improved passenger vehicle transit rail system to be installed above a city sidewalk for carrying a plurality of passenger vehicles within a closed loop.
The ever increasing congestion on city streets, freeways, and other vehicular arteries, both inter-city and intra-city, has created a need for new ground transportation systems. It is well-known that the acceptance of a transmit system by the general public depends upon its ability to provide economical transportation which is as fast as or faster than other existing forms of transportation, such as the personal automobile, buses, streetcars, and the like. By way of example, a transit system, to be acceptable, must be capable of transporting as many people over any given route of the transit system as a typical freeway. Moreover, the transit system must be safer than the automobile and must be capable of reliable operation in all kinds of weather. Preferably, the passenger service of the transit system should be immune to stoppage as a result of labor disputes. Summarizing, then, the ideal transit system is one which satisfies five basic requirements; speed, economy, reliability, safety and continuous availability.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,664, issued July 20, 1971, discloses a conveying system that directs vehicles around a maze of tracks by a pair of slots in a flat surface below the vehicle, wherein the slots are engaged by rollers alternately engaging the slots to change vehicle direction, to either left or right.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,462, issued Dec. 23, 1971, discloses an overhead monorail vehicle switching apparatus that incorporates a pivotal mechanical rocking assembly that engages a left or right hand side of the overhead support rail, thereby selecting a left or right direction at a switch junction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,535, issued Nov. 19, 1974, discloses an automatic overhead supporting monorail system. This system utilizes overhead mounted motors to propel the vehicle by driving a segmented tow bar supporting the vehicle from above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,278, issued Aug. 25, 1981, discloses improvements to an overhead monorail transit system consisting of guide fingers slidably engaging guide bars causing the vehicle to turn into a station. Additionally, an improved turning means is disclosed consisting of a pair of wedge-shaped guides sliding within grooves in a flat platform located at each track turn below the car. The guides improve car stability by resisting centrifugal forces and turns.